Cathedral awaits. A trip to track and field’s hallowed ground awaits a group of some 25 Seattle Pacific University athletes this weekend as they make the trip south to Eugene for the Oregon Invitational. Some heady competition and a promising weather forecast will be in store for the Falcons at historic Hayward Field Saturday (Apr. 23), presenting a prime opportunity to add or improve existing qualifying marks. Next week begins with the Great Northwest Athletic Conference multi-event championships Monday and Tuesday (Apr. 25-26) in Ellensburg, followed by the Western Washington Twilight meet Apr. 29 in Bellingham.

Entry data. Bypassing the conference heptathlon will be Danielle Ayers-Stamper (Jr., LaCrosse, Wa.), who will see action in up to four events at Oregon. Ayers-Stamper, coming off a GNAC record and NCAA Division II’s top qualifying score, is entered in both the 100-meter hurdles and high jump, as well as both relays. Karen Dickson (So., El Dorado Hills, Ca./Oak Ridge), already a 10k automatic qualifier, will race her first 5000 and Lauren VerMulm (Fr., Mount Vernon, Wa.) will try to regain the national lead in the javelin. Chris Randolph (Jr., Lone Tree, Co./Denver Christian), the NCAA point leader in the decathlon, could compete in three open events plus the long relay. Paul Mach (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s) is running the 800.

Head start. With its strength in the heptathlon and decathlon, Seattle Pacific could get a an early lead in the GNAC championship race. Coach Jack Hoyt has entered Kelsey Cooley (Fr., Missoula, Mt./Hellgate), Kristin Janney (So., White Salmon, Wa.), Bridgette Sexton (Fr., LaCenter, Wa.) and defending champion Linda Blake (Jr., Richland, Wa.) in the women’s seven-event competition. Tentatively, Randolph and Jason Childress (Fr., Arlington, Wa.) will do the decathlon’s 10 events. The GNAC Championships will ultimately be determined May 7.

Mighty are we. The Falcons flexed some muscle in California last week. Ayers-Stamper beat a predominantly Div. I field in the Mount SAC Relays heptathlon, scoring 5491 points to automatically qualify for the NCAA Championships next month. Mach took first in his section of the Mount SAC 800 meters and became the second SPU male provisional qualifier with a PR clocking of 1:52.83. Dickson smashed her own GNAC 10k record at the same meet, trimming over 31 seconds to 34:08.64 and finished 14th in a strong field. Mach and Ayers-Stamper were selected conference athletes of the week. For Ayers-Stamper it was her fifth such award since January.

Chart toppers. With five meets still to go, Seattle Pacific now has a total of 14 qualifying marks. Yet what’s most impressive is the fact that seven rate among the top four in the nation. Ayers-Stamper and Randolph are the heptathlon and decathlon respective leaders while Dickson and VerMulm are No. 2. Ayers-Stamper, a two-time All-American indoors last month, is also No. 3 in the 100 hurdles and No. 4 in both the high jump and long jump. Based on her indoor best time of 16:34.72, Dickson will likely rate among the 5k top five next week.

Nine-day diary. Hoyt put his cell phone roaming program to work over the past couple weeks, with four meets in nine days and the sites as far as a thousand miles apart. The junket started and finished in the 509 area code on the east side of the state, with a Southern California excursion in between. Beginning at the Pelluer Invitational Ayers-Stamper won the high jump with an outdoor PR of 5-8 and led an SPU sweep of the top three spots in the hurdles in 14.09. Dickson took first in the 1500 in a provisional time of 4:40.97. At Mount SAC, Ayers-Stamper hit PRs in the 200 (25.89) and 800 (2:21.01) and had solid marks in the other five events to move up to No. 3 on the school’s all-time list for total score. Mach came from behind to win his heat in a PR. In highlights from the next day’s Spike Arlt Invitational in Ellensburg, Jennifer Marsh (So., Kirkland, Wa./Juanita) won her first 800 of the season and Amy Harris (So., Corvallis, Or./Crescent Valley) became the Falcons’ first 12-foot vaulter of the season, raising her NCAA Division II provisional qualifying mark an inch to 12-0 3/4.

Good bloodlines. The only heptathlon performers ahead of Ayers-Stamper on the school list are Anita Sartin (5991) and Karin Grelsson (5604). Together, they won a total of three NCAA titles in that event. Ayers-Stamper’s Mount SAC total was just nine points off automatic qualification for the USA Track & Field Championships in June, and it surpassed the B standard. Her other second day marks included a long jump of 19-1 1Ž2 and a javelin heave of 124-2. On the first day she won the hurdles in 14.11, high-jumped a meet-best 5-7 1Ž4 and threw the shot 37-4. Her previous best score had been 5149 as a freshman when she finished second in the NCAA.

Time heals all. In terms of health, the Falcons are still not at full-strength. Sprinter Kinyatta Leonhardt (So., Petaluma, Ca./St. Vincent) returned from a sore hamstring to give both relays a boost. Leonhardt, who missed three outdoor meets, will race her first open 400 this weekend. Still on the mend is All-American javelin ace Sara Johnson (Sr., Kennewick, Wa.), who has been out since Mar. 19 with a muscle strain. Johnson might return Apr. 29. Steeplechaser Doug Gibson (So., Yakima, Wa./Riverside Christian) and decathlete Phil Bayley (Sr., Seattle, Wa./King’s) are both hobbled by leg injuries. Gibson might be back for the GNAC meet.

SPU Coaches. Jack Hoyt is now in his sixth season as head coach after succeeding the legendary Ken Foreman. His teams have won two outdoor conference titles and this year’s GNAC indoor crown. Hoyt is a former All-America decathlete at SPU and served as an assistant to Foreman for seven years. Heritage, the coach of cross country and track runners from 800 meters up, is a member of eight halls of fame for both athletes and coaches. Algerian Hart, former Long Beach State star, is in his third year as hurdles/sprints coach. Among the other assistants are Kelly LaBounty, a two-time Olympian in the heptathlon, and Laura Widman, a two-time All-America in the heptathlon.